3 Reasons Big Families Have Better Adventures

I’m THAT mom at the gorcery store. You know, the one with a million kids. Okay, I only have four, but the way people look at me, you’d think they had never seen so many children in their entire lives. “Are they all yours?” “Wow, four kids…you sure have your hands full”

Yes, they’re all mine.

Yes, my hands are always full (but not because my kids are bad).

And finally, YES, we actually wanted that many (and yes, I know what birth control is and how to use it).

So please, stop pitying me and start envying me – I’m convinced my adventures are easier because of all my kids! Yes, I realize that I’m going out on a limb, but I secretly think that big families have better adventures.

Here are my top three reasons why:

1. I don’t have to entertain them.

Sure, they might get on each others nerves, but there is never a boring or dull moment on our adventures (or anywhere for that matter). Having lots of kids in our family means lots of instant playmates. A nice added perk is that this gives the hubby and I some time to ourselves to just talk since we don’t have to entertain all the time!

2. It makes me a master planner.

Honestly, this might be just a survival thing, but if I’m not super prepared, things just fall apart. No, I can’t just wing it and take off for the day with the kids and “hope” they don’t get hungry, or “hope” it doesn’t rain. I make sure that I know what we’re getting into before dragging my whole troop out. No, I have to be totally on the ball, because while you can tolerate one whiny kid, four is pretty much unbearable! No, it’s not a major pain, but let’s just say that I can grab exactly what we need for a day out and whip up some PB&J like nobody’s business!

3. The kids help out.

The easiest thing about adventuring with my younger kids is that I know I’ve got the older ones to lend a hand. When we’re out together, these kids suddenly become a team and actually work together. It’s completely awesome to see the big kids helping me grab stuff or getting the younger ones ready. They love to play, and know that the more they help me out, the more fun they’ll have. (Now if I could just transfer over that attitude to doing chores together…)
Am I saying that families with just one or two kids don’t have awesome adventures? Not by a long shot. However, maybe it’s time to stop thinking that’s the only way for go.

4 Comments

We recently headed out on an adventure and I left the lunch and snack prep to my 10 yr old. She did a great job and was a huge support in getting out the door quickly. The younger ones were given manageable tasks to help out too which was nice. Glad to hear the older ones are catching the vision.

I quite agree. We have 3 boys and that can bring a lot of pitying looks too. Our sons are pretty self contained and great buddies so we don’t need to watch over them all the time as they usually have some scheme or another to be getting on with!.